Cambridge Botanical Handbooks 



Edited by A. C. SEWARD and A. G. TANSLEY 





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rapid development of certain branches of botanical science in recent 

 years has emphasised the need of books by specialists on different groups 

 of the vegetable kingdom. After acquiring a superficial knowledge of the 

 larger groups, the student who desires to pursue the subject beyond the 

 limits of a general text-book receives but little assistance from existing 

 treatises, at least as regards recent researches into the morphology and 

 natural history of plants. The enormous output of original papers renders 

 the task of keeping abreast of current work increasingly difficult : the 

 accumulation of facts necessitates a periodic review from a broad standpoint 

 of the results of recent work, more especially as they affect the actual 

 problems of evolution presented by the various classes of plants. It is with 

 a view of meeting this want that the present series is designed. 



Professor West's book dealing with certain groups of Algse is the first of 

 the Handbooks to appear. The Volumes on Lichens, Fungi, and Gnetales 

 by Miss Lorrain Smith, Dr Helen Gwynne-Vaughan, and Professor Pearson 

 respectively are in an advanced state of preparation. 



BOTANY SCHOOL, 

 CAMBRIDGE. 



August 1, 1916. 



